Indianapolis -- A return for the Grand Prix of Cleveland at Burke Lakefront Airport remains a work in progress. But time is getting short for the open-wheel cars to return in 2009.

Cleveland race promoters, led by MJ PRomotions CEO Mike Lanigan, gave a presentation to Indy Racing League officials Friday at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. As promoters for former Champ Car races in Houston and Cleveland, Lanigan's group presented a package to IRL president Terry Angstadt that included both events, stating it's more cost effective to do two races than one.

A big positive to come out of that meeting, Lanigan said, was IRL's interest in checking out the Cleveland venue in person, hopefully, sometime in June.

"That's something we offered and they jumped at," Lanigan said. "Many people with the IRL have never seen what Cleveland has to offer. The IRL is motivated to see us, touch us and feel us."

Yet securing a spot on the 2009 schedule still remains tenuous.

Acknowledging, "every person that mentions Cleveland says what a great event it was," Angstadt made it clear there are hurdles. Since the February unification of Champ Car and the IRL, only three former Champ Car events made the schedule for this season.

Angstadt said all of the remaining Champ Car events have made requests to be on the 2009 slate and will be making presentations to the IRL.

"We want to see a dedicated plan," Angstadt said. "Financial stability. Show a sensitivity to the success factors we look for: high interest levels, good corporate hospitality, good connection to the community, newspaper involvement. Do they have things like concerts and other things to create a total experience?"

In recent years, Cleveland's corporate involvement in the race has been tepid, and a title sponsor has been lacking. Lanigan and race general manager Chuck Kosich admit they are working hard to secure a sponsor. But they say corporate involvement has ebbed and flowed with the split in open wheel racing. Now that all sides are under one roof, they expect that involvement to improve.

"People realize this [Cleveland race] can be bigger now," Kosich said. "We haven't lost one of our sponsors who were on board with us before the '08 race was cancelled."

There is more. With the 2007 return of IRL races at Mid-Ohio and Detroit, along with events in Indianapolis, Milwaukee, Iowa, Chicago and Kansas, Angstadt said the threat of having too many races in the Midwest exists. Also, sanctioning fees have always been a challenge for Cleveland promoters in the past.

Lanigan said there was no mention of too many Midwest races in his meetings with Angstadt, and no mention of potential sanctioning fees. However, there was a request for available race dates, which was another encouraging sign.

Cleveland's strong suits remain its intangibles. It is the oldest street circuit on the books. Drivers love racing on the airport layout. Fans and race officials love the easy access from downtown hotels. It has historically been one of the most watched TV races on the circuit and numerous auto industry companies ranging from tire manufacturers to automotive paint distributors are in the region.

But in the end, does Cleveland have enough to make the IRL cut for 2009?

"We would like to listen and consider all options, all alternatives at this stage," Angstadt said. "But we're getting pretty tight for any considerations for 2009. We've talked a lot to people since unification, some in more detail than others.

"Putting the schedule together is a real priority and takes a ton of time. For '09 we are starting to need to make some decisions. We have said we would like to be ready, the end of June, early July, to say here is the '09 schedule. That's the goal at this point."

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